Title | Income, Poverty, and Material Hardship Among Older Americans. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2015 |
Authors | Levy, HG |
Journal | RSF |
Volume | 1 |
Issue | 1 |
Pagination | 55-77 |
Date Published | 2015 Nov |
ISSN Number | 2377-8253 |
Abstract | Using data from the 2008 and 2010 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to analyze the determinants of material hardship among individuals ages sixty-five and older, I look at five self-reported hardships: food insecurity, skipped meals, medication cutbacks, difficulty paying bills, and dissatisfaction with one's financial situation. One-fifth of the elderly report one or more of these hardships. Although hardship is more likely for those with low incomes, most older Americans experiencing hardship are not poor. I analyze whether alternative measures of resources do a better job of predicting hardship than does income relative to the federal poverty threshold. I find that spending relative to the poverty threshold does a worse job predicting hardship than does income relative to poverty. Subtracting out-of-pocket medical spending from income yields a measure that is an even better predictor of hardship. In multivariate models, I find that self-reported health, activity limitations, and disability are significant predictors of hardship. Having reliable children (as assessed by the respondent) or an able-bodied spouse reduces the likelihood of hardship. Poor health increases hardship through three channels: by lowering income, by increasing out-of-pocket medical spending, and through its direct effect on hardship. The first two of these-lower income and higher medical spending-are much less quantitatively important than the third; in a nutshell, poor health makes it harder to get by with less. |
DOI | 10.7758/RSF.2015.1.1.04 |
User Guide Notes | |
Endnote Keywords | poverty/material hardship/food insecurity/older Americans/INCOME/Out of pocket costs |
Endnote ID | 999999 |
Alternate Journal | RSF |
Citation Key | 8222 |
PubMed ID | 27857982 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC5110250 |
Grant List | K01 AG034232 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States P2C HD041028 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States U01 AG009740 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States |